GolfNewsRI

Davis Chatfield and Patrick Welch are both set to embark on one of the biggest weeks of their young careers.

The Korn Ferry Tour’s Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship is the third tournament of four in the KFT playoff run and carries major implications for players. 

See GolfNewsRI’s video breakdown: 

The Breakdown 

After this week, the top 75 players on the Korn Ferry Tour Points List earn full status for next season, and also advance to the Korn Ferry Tour Championship. 

Given the points standings, the week is slightly more crucial for Welch. 

The former Classical star sits at #79 on the points list after getting off to a great start last week and then sliding down the leaderboard. 

He needs to play really well this week to secure KFT status for next season. 

Now, if he doesn’t crack the top 75, but stays within the top 85, Welch will earn a bye into the second stage of PGA Tour Q-School. 

No matter what, Welch will have at least conditional status on the Korn Ferry Tour next season. 

For Chatfield, he comes into the week at #65 on the points list after missing the cut last week. 

He briefly was projected to fall to 68, but ended up climbing back up to 65 by the time the tournament ended. 

Chatfield should be a lock to stay inside the top 75, clinch status for next season, and get to the Korn Ferry Tour Championship. 

As we have seen, things change quickly and another missed cut could certainly make things interesting, but hard to see him dropping 11 spots. 

Now, if the former RI Amateur champ plays really well and snags a top 15-10 finish, he could jump up into the the 50s (or higher) heading into the Korn Ferry Tour Championship. 

The top 30 players after the Korn Ferry Tour Championship get their PGA Tour Cards. 

Obviously, Chatfield still has a ways to go, but if he gets into the 50s or higher, you would certainly have to say he has an outside shot.